Steelers out last the Titans 13-10 in overtime...

The NFL season got off to an extended start at Heinz Field last night between two evenly matched teams and a coin toss was ultimately the deciding factor as the Pittsburgh Steelers out slugged the Tennessee Titans 13-10 in overtime.
Both teams got off to slow starts and could not find their rhythm until late in the second quarter when the Steelers struck first. Ben Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes from 34 yards out for the first touchdown of the new NFL season with only 1:22 left before the half, Holmes finished the game with 9 receptions for 131 yards and the touchdown.
The Titans counter punched the Steelers though(who were without Troy Polamalu and Lamar Woodley) and it only took them three plays before Kerry Collins found pay dirt hooking up with Justin Gage to tie things up heading into halftime.
Both teams traded three and outs and unfinished drives all third quarter before Rob Bironas broke the tie for the Titans in the fourth nailing a 45 yard field goal(Bironas missed a 37 yarder in the first and had a 31 yard FG blocked in the second) to put Tennessee ahead 10-7.
The Steelers got the ball back and proceeded to eat up over 8 minutes off the clock before tying the game up with on a 32 yard field goal by Jeff Reed. The Steelers looked like they were going to wrap up the game in regulation when Big Ben found a wide open Hines Ward for a 30 yard completion to the Tennessee 4 yard line but Ward was fighting for extra yardage and was stripped from behind by Michael Griffith and the Titans defense recovered the loose ball.
The Steelers won the coin toss in overtime and Ben repeatedly found the gaps in the Titans defense while driving the Pittsburgh offense into field goal range. Roethlisberger hooked up with rookie wideout Mike Wallace for a 22 yard connection and set the Steelers up in field goal range. Pittsburgh wasn't willing to have another turnover so they brought out Reed to kick the game winner and he calmly knocked it in from 33 yards out for the Steelers first victory of the 2009-2010 season(like he has so many times over the last few years). Roethlisberger finished the game completing 33 of 43 passes for 363 yards a touchdown and two interceptions.

First of all the Steelers won and that is the most important thing but the defense did not look the same without Polamalu who may be out for a few weeks after he was making every play during the first half, he made a spectacular interception on a play where the offense should have been called for pass interference plus he had 6 tackles before the injury. The defense will miss him because he is the cog that makes everything work, the way he disguises his blitzes and coverages are amazing and nonone in the NFL can replicate him. Secondly the offensive line looked horrible when it came to the run and the Tennessee defensive lineman were routinely in the back field before Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall, or Mewelde Moore even got started. Ben was sacked 4 times but I put three of those on him because he was doing his usual thing trying to create opportunities and he held on to the ball too long. But the o-line was routinely beaten off the snap and they looked lost a lot of the times.

I expected this game to be physical and for both teams to grind it out but I did not think they would need overtime to settle the score, but the NFL has to be excited about how the first game turned out since so many in the past have turned out to be blow outs. The Steelers travel to Chicago next week to face Jay Cutler and the Bears. The Titans look to rebound next week at home against division rival Houston.

GO STEELERS!